Hotel stalls Stamps' horseplay

Calgary Stampeders fan Lloyd Jacobson rides his horse Tuffy through the lobby of a hotel in downtown Montreal, Nov. 22, 2001, prior to that year's Grey Cup between the Blue Bombers and Stampeders. Stampeders fans brought a horse into the Royal York Hotel in downtown Toronto in 1948 and there are rumours a group plans to do so again on Thursday morning. Hotel officials say that won't be allowed

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There will not be a horse in the lobby of the Royal York Hotel on Thursday morning.

The Calgary Grey Cup Committee, a group of Stampeders fans, reportedly want to recreate the 1948 moment when a member of the equine family walked into the lobby of the posh downtown Toronto hotel.

That won’t be happening, according to the Royal York’s regional director of sales and marketing, Kerry Ann Kotani.

“We are not allowing it this year for health and safety reasons,” Kotani said Wednesday, saying an alternate plan for the horse was in the works. “We just think it’s cruel to the animal to bring it in. I can’t imagine a poor horse trying to get into the lobby.”

The Calgary crew tried to bring a horse into the Royal York lobby in 2007 when the Grey Cup was last contested in Toronto, but it wasn’t let in and remained out on the sidewalk on Front Street.

“We actually have photos of the horse out front,” Kotani said.

Not only is Kotani concerned about the health of the horse, but also of the safety of the hotel’s guests. The Calgary Grey Cup Committee has not contacted the hotel, but the rumour is it plans to arrive with its horse around 10 a.m.